So I sent this CEO of a company a message telling him our communications will be limited to text and email only.

Despite saying that he's asked about 6 or 7 times afterwards "we must meet and discuss future plan"

Issue is:

- He's requesting amateur marketing strategies to be implemented from a person with zero knowledge about how things work

- He's demanding things that are least priority over What's important and asks "what happened to that thing we talked about"

- He's haggling his way into "spend less bring more leads" and when budget is low he says "we're struggling, we must meet and discuss the ""plan"""

- they're paying me peanuts

- man is crude, talking trash about his boss calling him a whore and crossing boundaries about my personal life me being single and my whereabouts traveling met with laughter and jokes

- inappropriate disgusting comments about stock photos I show him "look at those beautiful woman hands I'd like to kiss those"

- Paranoid and reactive to campaign performance and wants daily changes, won't let campaign learn naturally

- He's generally a slow talker and knows absolutely nothing about my line of work and I've reached a breaking point where I don't wanna hear his voice again it makes me sick to my stomach

The guys is basically a man with anxious narcissistic tendancies

Despite refusing to talk to him by phone or meet on Google he's insisting, this is the 7th time I said we will communicate in text and he's like "Please we must meet and talk and do weekly meetings online "

I think he looks at this as an authority challenge where he's doubling down "to show me he's the boss".

In any case what do you guys recommend in this situation, my payment is on hold and I might stop working with them for my refusal of calls.

Hi everyone, I am planning to launch a niche service business, and I would love to get your brutally honest feedback and opinions on whether this is a viable model. The concept is a Freelance Funeral & Memorial Service Coordinator. Unlike a traditional funeral home (I won’t own a hearse, sell coffins, or handle bodies), my role would be strictly as a project manager/coordinator for the family.

When a loved one passes, the family is often too devastated to handle the endless logistics.What I would handle are booking venues for the memorial service/reception, coordinating with caterers, florists, and musicians, managing invitations, RSVPs, and printing the service programs. I would also do schedules with the local church, venue, and the official funeral home. Being physically present on the day of the funeral to manage the timeline, guide guests, and make sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes, so the family can focus entirely on grieving.

To start, I was thinking to offer my coordination services completely for free for the first 2–3 families. After that, I would transition into a paid service with fixed packages. My questions for you guys: If you were grieving, would you find value in hiring an independent coordinator to take the logistical weight off your shoulders? Do you think the "free pilot/pro-bono" approach is a good way to build initial trust in such a sensitive industry? What potential roadblocks or challenges do you see with this business model?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!

Edit: I do not live in a english speaking country. We do not have a funeral home concept. There is just no other translation for that. The burying and all that is connected to that is handeld by local parish. What my concept is how to help people to organize a memorial.

Quick numbers: $1.2M revenue, flat 3 years straight. EBITDA verified against actual tax returns, $265K to $290K. LOI at $725K, SBA loan plus a seller note plus a small family investment. Once the seller note kicks in year 2, debt service plus the seller’s transition pay plus a part time coordinator eats almost all of it if growth is 0%, which is literally the last 3 years under current ownership. It only really works with 2 to 4% growth.

Seller says he just didn’t have bandwidth to grow it since he’s also the main technician. Could be true, could be a convenient story.

I have zero industry experience. Done a lot of diligence but the margin for error is thin. Current owner says he’s willing to stay on and work full time role which I think works well due to my lack of experience.

Anyone bought something like this, flat revenue small business betting on your own growth thesis? Did it work out or not? Trying to get real opinions, not talk myself into something.

My wife and I own a bakery in a small tourist-y town. We have a regular customer who is mid 40s single dude. He has recently been coming in more when one of our employees (mid 20s woman) is working. He’s always a bit weird and awkward, but recently has taken a “liking” to said employee. I caught wind when he was in today during a rush that he had been by at closing time this week when only she was in the building. As she was closing up, he was trying to chat with her and talk about her plans for her day off. She was sweeping by the front door and he gave her a pat on the back and said something to the effect of “you’re very desirable.” She was uncomfortable and as she was moving tables, put a table barrier in between herself and him.

After he cashed out today, I told him I wanted to speak to him outside. He immediately asked “Did I do something wrong?” which in my mind was confirmation of guilt. I told him I had heard that he had touched an employee without consent and she had felt uncomfortable. He immediately got heated and said “I didn’t touch ANYONE and I’m offended I’m being accused of it.” I basically said listen man, I have to believe my employee and look out for their safety. I cannot have you touching anyone or making anyone feel uncomfortable. Before we got any further he was yelling “I didn’t touch anyone!” in front of a group of people out on our patio. He made a bit of a scene but basically embarrassed himself more than I had even intended. He stormed off saying “I’m never coming here again… blah blah blah.”

So anyway, one less creep coming around our store and hopefully a man who has another example of why he can’t just do/say anything he wants around women.

Had to fire my brother last week so it’s certainly been a ride recently, but at 3 years in business I’m just losing tolerance for any more bullshit. Thanks for reading. Just needed to vent.

I work at a large logistics company with quite a few years of experience.

I’m interested in small business creation, building something out and being in control of the success of a business that can grow in value while also improving the lives of my employees and meeting the needs of customers.

I’m not willing to dedicate my capital to this (dream) because I just don’t think I have the bandwidth to maintain my professional role, be present for my family AND develop and operate a business full time.

Anyone else in a similar situation and consulting?

Anyone else in a similar situation and think I’m just rationalizing a reason to not risk a failure?

Is there a part of Reddit where I would fit in?

First Reddit post ever, cut me a break if I’m not doing it right!

A larger company with an existing customer base of roughly 15,000 customers wants to partner with my smaller service company to offer an additional service to its customers.

The larger company would handle the marketing, sales, scheduling, and payment collection, and may potentially fund dedicated vehicles as the partnership grows.

My company would handle the entire fulfillment and operations side—employees, equipment, training, service delivery, and quality control.

We would provide the larger company with wholesale pricing, allowing them to mark up our services and make a profit on every job. The goal would also be to convert as many customers as possible into recurring quarterly or bi-annual service plans, creating a significant recurring revenue stream for both companies.

Essentially:
They bring the 15,000-customer database, marketing, and sales → we handle the operations and fulfillment → both companies grow and make money.

I am the smaller company in this situation.
My biggest concern is what happens if this becomes extremely successful. By helping them build and grow this new service offering, I could essentially be helping create what may eventually become my biggest competitor.

If we grow this into a very large operation, what prevents them from eventually saying, “We don’t need you anymore—we can bring this in-house and do it ourselves”?

At that point, my company could have invested years into building the operation, hiring and training employees, developing the systems, and servicing thousands of their customers—only to potentially lose that entire revenue stream once they realize they can replicate what we’ve built.

The opportunity is huge, but my concern is making sure I don’t help build something that eventually makes my own company replaceable.

Now we’re putting everything we’ve learned into building our own travel agency.

We’re looking for freelance salespeople in the UK & US to help us sell our travel packages.

Remote • Flexible • High-Comissions

Looking for people who love travel, know how to sell, and want to build something from the ground up. We'll take care of everything once the sale gets converted.

Interested? 

Hey there, a few years ago I got fired from my lawn care job and thought those F’n morons were cutting corners anyway, and I could do it better.
I started my own Lawncare/landscaping business with my wife, a Honda Civic, and some equipment. Yeah I know should have a truck but we have had a great summer this year and I have about six years experience driving plow trucks for other companies.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of a lending institution, or anyway to finance a used Ram 2500 or equal truck to plow snow on my own.
I'm currently rebuilding my credit as I had to live on my credit at first. It's about a 615 atm.
Please let me know if you know of a good grant or how to get a loan. Grant preferred loans are cool too. Please toss me a bone. My wife and I are both having health issues and working on getting disability atm also.

Hoping to get a truck maybe two so next summer we can hire a couple younger bucks to do the heavy lifting.

So I recently found a local fish and chip shop for sale. It’s listed for £300k which included the business, the location as well as a 3 bed flat above the business. The advert boasts a yearly profit of £133k without any social media presence, online ordering portal or delivery service. It clearly has space to scale.

I live in the UK, I’m 25 years old and I am sick of working for someone else. I want to buy this business with a long time friend as we can both put in the time and effort to make this work.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how we could get a loan to buy this business? What we would need to be able to secure a loan like this considering we have no previous history of running a business?

Not sure if this is the right place to be asking about this but I’m looking for some insight, I was thinking about going to local auctions and finding vehicles to part out/fix up for a profit but it seems you’re limited to 3-5 cars a year without a dealership license at least in Florida, I’m leaning more towards renting a small lot and just starting my own small dealership, I’ve done a little bit of research and it seems like it’s possible to get started out with 100k dollars, I received a little more than that from a settlement I got from a car accident earlier this year and I’d like to use it to build something for myself and my family, I’m very blessed to have this opportunity and I don’t want it to go to waste, my initial plan is to get a trailer I can use to haul the cars I buy from auction so I don’t have to pay for transportation, I already have a truck that’s capable of doing that so that’s not an issue, I’m just not really sure on where to go from there honestly it’s a little stressful for me jumping into something like this, I’ve only ever worked a 9-5 and I am 22 years old, like I said I’m just looking for a little bit of insight on the topic, hopefully someone here has some knowledge they can share, if not it’s no worries I’m gonna continue to do research on my own, any insight is appreciated though.

Edit: I was also considering an automotive repair shop and also selling vehicles on the side.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from people who have been in the car business longer than me.

I opened my used car dealership in Temecula, California in March 2025 when I was 27. I’m 28 now and currently keep around 20–25 cars in inventory at a time.

I actually went to school for engineering and had a regular career before deciding to quit my job and go all-in on the dealership. Since leaving my job, I’ve more than quadrupled my income, and the business has continued to grow every year. I’m grateful for the progress, but I also know I still have a ton to learn and there are people in this industry with decades more experience than me.

I’m trying to figure out how to take the dealership to the next level.

What cars are currently flying off the shelf for you guys? Are there certain makes, models, price ranges, or types of vehicles that you’re having a hard time keeping in stock?

I’m also trying to improve my sourcing. Currently I buy from ADESA, Manheim, OPENLANE, ACV, OVE, and CarMax. Where are you guys finding your best inventory and margins? Are there sourcing methods I should be focusing more heavily on outside of the major auctions?

I’m also putting a lot more effort into social media. Right now I’m on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, but I’m still learning the ropes and figuring out what actually brings customers through the door.

For those of you who have grown a small independent dealership into something much bigger, what made the biggest difference?

What would you focus on if you were in my position with 20–25 cars and wanted to seriously scale from here?

I’m genuinely looking to learn from people who are much more experienced than me, so any advice, mistakes to avoid, or lessons you’ve learned would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Me and 5 friends started a small software agency this year, building websites/CRMs/apps for local businesses. All of us still have day jobs, this runs evenings and weekends.

Every client so far has come through referrals. Work's gone fine, but we've never actually run outbound - no cold outreach, no lead gen process, nothing.

Trying to figure out two things:

**1.    UAE/GCC** \- anyone here landed a client in the Gulf from India? How did you actually find them, and how'd you get past the "who even is this small shop" trust problem?  
**2.    EU** \- is the sales motion totally different (GDPR, procurement, language) or does the same approach mostly carry over? Any EU countries easier to break into for a small outside agency?

Tried Apollo.io and some scraping for lead lists, plus a LinkedIn push. Basically zero conversion. What's actually worked for other small agencies selling into these regions?

been noticing this about my own business and curious if its a common pattern

got a good batch of reviews in my first few months, probably 20-30, back when i was actively asking everyone because it felt like the obvious thing to do as a new business. then it just... stopped. not on purpose, i think the asking just stopped feeling necessary once i wasnt "new" anymore, and it slipped into the background of stuff i dont think about day to day

recently went back and realized my most recent review is from over a year ago, even though ive done plenty of work since then that people seemed happy with. just never asked, and it never occurred to me that not asking was actually a decision with consequences, felt more like a neutral non-action

trying to figure out if this actually matters or if im overthinking it:

• has anyone noticed a stale review count (high total, but old) actually affecting how customers respond, vs just being something that bothers you personally
• do you actively keep asking for reviews indefinitely, or did you also kind of stop once the initial push felt done
• for those of you who do ask consistently, what actually made it stick as a habit instead of fading out the way mine did
• is there a point where an old review becomes actively a bad signal (like, worse than having fewer total reviews but more recent ones) or is that overthinking a number that mostly doesnt matter past a point

curious if this is just me being inconsistent about something minor or if its a bigger blind spot than i realized

​

I'm a Computer Science student, and I'm looking for a real business problem to work on so I can get some practical, hands-on experience outside of coursework.

If you run a business and have something that's been taking up too much of your time, I'd like to try building a solution for it, free of charge. In return, I'd just appreciate honest feedback afterward, since that's what actually helps me learn.

Some examples of what I could help with:

- Automating a repetitive task (lead follow-ups, reminders, quote tracking, data entry)

- Fixing or building a website

- Setting up a simple system to keep things organized

- Market or competitor research for a decision you're making

If this sounds useful to you, just feel free to contact me.

I have been looking into buying a business that I can spend my free time after work running. I found a vending machine business for sale in my city. He is asking for 110k with 90k gross revenue and 40k cash flow a year. It is 17 machines at 13 sites within 25 miles of each other. They have been established for 8 years and the current owner is willing to stay for a month to show his connections, suppliers, and the gist of running the business. Is there a reason I should stray from vending machines or any red flags I should be looking out for? I will need to get a loan in order to buy the business. Thank you in advance!

Ok so im the ops person at a property tax appeal startup, we help homeowners challenge their home tax assessment with our AI tool. I was cleaning up a CSV and meant to run a tiny test batch of 12 homes through our new auto file flow. I somehow hit upload for the whole queue of pending checks for the week... over 300 properties. Some of them were just curious users who never confirmed they wanted to appeal, some had half finished data, a few were already corrected.

Now I have counties getting packets, homeowners getting confusing notices, and my boss asking why we are appealing a house that is obviously under assessed. I feel so embarrassed and kinda sick about this rn. Anyone else ever totally messed up tax assessment challenges at scale like this?

Hi there!

I work for a small business and we typically have volunteers come in and help us get organized. I have been asked to find an app or website (not sign up genius) that would allow them to sign up for “shifts”on the days we are open in a more efficient way. I know we could probably use Google Calendar, but we want something that will notify us and where we can also communicate back and forth if needed. Bonus points if the app is free.

Thank you so much.

Everyone treats organic like the budget option you do until you can afford real ads. I think that’s backwards.

An ad is rented attention. Stop paying, it’s gone, back to zero. Organic is the opposite: a post from 8 months ago can still be finding people right now, still building trust, for free, while you’re asleep.

I saw this managing social for a small company. One post, nothing crazy, just a genuinely useful how-to, kept getting found and shared for almost a year. Steady leads the whole time. If that effort had gone into an ad instead, it stops the moment the budget runs out.

That’s the real case for organic. Not that it’s cheaper, it’s that it’s the only channel where past work keeps paying you in the present. Ads are rented, content is owned. And once you’ve got a backlog of content that’s already built trust, ads perform better on top of it too, because now they’re amplifying something real instead of introducing a stranger.

Not anti-ads. Just think most businesses have the order backwards, they buy attention before they’ve built anything worth paying attention to.

i have a best friend who is a nail tech who i frequently assist with scheduling her clients, & helping find spots for them etc in her books (which i have access too)

i am not technically an “employee” so there’s no need for me to have my own personal second number, is there any apps that allow for two users to simultaneously use the same login & password & stay logged in on two different phones so we are both able to manage the inbox?

i am having a difficult time finding this, but again, i just help her out & she is going on maternity leave soon & would love to not give people my real number, & help her create some boundaries with her clients who txt her all the time!

thank you in advanced

side note: i have tried google voice + that seems to keep rejecting me for some reason.

so any other options you had luck with would be amazing.

thanks!

I have been looking into different service businesses and one that keeps coming up is biohazard cleanup.

Things like unattended deaths, decomposition, blood cleanup, hoarding, odor removal and similar situations.

The jobs seem like they could pay well because they are usually urgent and obviously not something most people want to deal with.

What I am trying to figure out is whether there is actually enough demand for it to be a good business.

Do companies doing this get enough calls consistently or are you sitting around waiting for work most of the time?

For anyone who has worked in this industry or knows someone who has, is it actually profitable and is there a real need for more companies doing it?

Hello everyone! I make custom jewelry and I’m curious if anyone has any advice on how to reach out to potential customers or just have a following. I want to start making my own line of jewelry and have them with interactive stuff to it like movable pieces or electrical parts like for example like a gun pendant with an actual laser underneath it just one of the few ideas I have and I know one of the advices is going to be post on all social media but besides that is their anything else I can do.

Hi! I'm working on the launch of my own brand of bags and I need the perspective of fellow handbag girlies 🤗 (it's going to be a brand targeting women only)

I'm still trying to decide which fabric to use and which price to sell them (which will obviously depend on production cost)

If anyone is kind enough to answer a few questions that would be nice 🙏

what is the maximum price you are willing to pay for a cute crossbody bag in synthetic leather? Or is synthetic leather a NO GO for you no matter the price?

max price for a crossbody bag in real leather? (cute bag but from an unknown brand)

max price for vegetable leather (like pinatex, apple leather, mango leather etc)?

( If you don't really know, it's OK to say so, don't make up fake numbers 😅 )

do you really pay attention to the production country and does it affect your purchase decision and/or the price you're willing to pay? (like if it's made in China is it a NO GO? Or ok but with a max price?)

Would you pay more for the same bag made in Europe vs Asia?

do you need the brand of your bag to be well-known in order to have that "trust" effect + "status symbol" or you can buy from an unknown brand if you really like the aesthetic?

Or maybe you wouldn't care about the brand under a certain price point but would start caring above a certain price? If that's the case, what price point?

Put differently, if a bag is just as cute as a luxury bag and with material of high quality but the brand isn't well-known (because they have just launched), could you still buy ?

Thankssss any feedback is really helpful ❤️

If you think of any other aspect to mention, don't hesitate!

I only need to get maybe 2-3 contracts signed a month, nothing complicated, but the "enterprise" pricing on the big names feels absurd for how little I actually use it. tried the free tier on one of the popular ones and it caps you at like 3 docs a month which doesn't even cover me. anyone using something cheaper that still feels legit (not sketchy) for client-facing stuff?